Any lessons learned from the recent water shortages?

silverharp · 31-01-2010 12:37pm #1

one can only assume its going to happen again or during a hot summer, and given that the system will probably degrade further in the future, will there be push to grey water systems? Should households install larger tanks in the attic? We were lucky in that for different reasons we had an oversized tank installed probably about X3 the normal so we had water even though it didnt refill for more then a week.

If and when metering comes in, will there be a "smart" element to it, where price could go up during dry spells etc. What I noticed during the week the water was off was that we did actually reduce water consumption, less flushing, shorter showers etc.

Chris_5339762 · 31-01-2010 3:06pm

All I know about an Irish way of water metering, is that it'll be poorly implemented and inferior to the systems in other countries.

dubhthach · 31-01-2010 7:21pm

We are still getting water cuts here in Sandymount so I'd say "Current water shortages" as oppose to "Recent ..", as for lessons learnt this is Ireland do you think the councils will learn anything? The fact that Intel had to shut one of their fabs due to contamination from the council spreading urea instead of rock salts says it all.

Perhaps central government might get the finger out and expedite the replacement of the victorian mains but in current economic climate I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

Carawaystick · 31-01-2010 9:41pm

Silverharp2 wrote: »

one can only assume its going to happen again or during a hot summer.

The issue with the current water shortages in Dublin have to do with the water treatment plants not being able to output enough treated water.
A hot summer will not change the demand to much. a sustained dry spell would affect the inputs to the treatment plants - a totally different problem, but one the council workers are throwing into the mix to hide the fact they totally failed to have a secure water supply system. A worker with Fingal Co. Co. claimed the Dublin councils only had a 2% margin over the average daily demand.
Considering it takes some amount of time to increase the amount of treated water and the same organisations allowed planning permission which is likely to increase demand for treated water, then heads should roll just for this, which was totally within the council's remit. It could be argued that lack of funding for improvements during the boom could be pushed back to central govt, but you'ld get the same buck passing there as in a game of pass the parcel.

The Fingal engineer from above was also quoted saying 10% of any good system should be replaced each year, implying that water mains have a ten year lifetime..... The same council's taken since the week after Munster last won the Heineken cup to now to install a water Main from the Five Roads to Lissenhall under the r132. I'd be hard pressed to believe they could replace 10% of the water mains in any year or that they would ot use something slightly more durable....

31-01-2010 11:59pm

I think that the key lesson would be, it it's recommended that pipes are laid 50cm (or whatever the depth is) down then put them down that deep!

The sheer numbers that lost their water for that simple reason alone is shocking.

01-02-2010 12:03am

Carawaystick wrote: »

The Fingal engineer from above was also quoted saying 10% of any good system should be replaced each year,

I suspect that he's including the plant in that figure not just the pipes.

Any lessons learned from the recent water shortages?

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